Heel-seat fitting machine



Feb. 20, 1940. G. HAZELTON HEEL-SEAT FITTING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 12, 1938 HEEL-SEAT FITTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 12, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 20, 19 40. HAZELTQN 2,190,784

HEEL-SEAT FITTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 12, 1938 *s Sheets-Sheet :s

Patented Feb. 20, 1940,

PATENT OFFICE HEEL-SEAT FITTING MACHINE George Hazelton, Leicester, England, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough of Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application October 12, 1938, Serial No. 234,664 In Great Britain 0ctober 25, 1937 14 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for use in the manufacture of shoes and is illustrated as embodied in a machine for trimming the, heel ends of attached soles of shoes. for reception in channels formed in the breasts of heels of the type described in United States Letters Patent No. 2,121,172, granted June 21, 1938, on an application filed in the name of Fred C. Lovejoy.

It is an object of this invention to provide a machine for quickly and effectively reducing the heel end portions of previously attached soles, intended to be interlocked with heels which have sole receiving channels and which will hereinafter be referred to as interlocking heels.

\ T The interlocking heel has at the upper end of its breast a forwardly projecting lip which is of considerably less width than the upper portion of the breast of the heel, and a sole receiving channel which is formed in the heel reast beneath the. lip and terminates in the attaching face of the heel at opposite sides of the lip. In the finished shoe the lip of the heel is positioned between the bottom of the shoe and the attached outsole of the shoe, the rear end of the sole fitting in the channel.

In the manufacture of compo shoes having interlocking heels it is customary to form, during the sole-attaching operation, between the bottom of the shoe and the sole of the shoe axpocket which is of suitable size and arranged to receive the lip of the heel to be positioned upon the shoe. In the manufacture of McKay and lockstitch shoes, however, the pocket is not preformed and the lip of the heel is usually forced for supporting the heel end of an attached sole of a shoe which is to receive an interlocking heel, and a tongue which is associated with and projects forwardly of the plate, and which is constructed and arranged to be interposed between the bottom of the shoe and the central part of the shank portion of the sole of the shoe.

The tongue has a shape similar to that of the lip of the heel and when the shoe is positioned in the machine the tongue is located approxi- 3 mately in the space later tobe occupied by the lip, of the heel. When the shoe is being positioned in the machine the tongue opens up the restricted pocket between the bottom of the McKay or lockstitch shoe and the rear end of the attached sole of the shoe, thereby facilitating the positioning of the interlocking heel upon the shoe.

The tongue has a transversely. crowned rearward extension which projects above the forward central portion of a flat sole supporting face of the plate and isof a size and shape to fill up the rear portion of the above-mentioned preformed lip-receiving pocket between the bottom of a composhoe and the rear end of the attached sole of the shoe. The transversely crowned rearward extension of the tongue has a rear face extending widthwise of the sole and disposed at rightangles to the flat face of the plate. The tongue and the plate provide a cutting block which effectively supports the sole against the action of a cutter which moves downward past said rear face of the tongue to sever the central part of the sole by a shearing cut progressing toward the lateral portions ofthe Fig. 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away,

showing the illustrated machine, and a shoe presented thereto Fig. 2 shows a covered interlocking heel;

Figs. 3 and 4 show in perspective the heel seats of compo shoes and the rear ends of the attached soles of which have been reduced for the reception of interlocking heels;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the heel seat of a McKay shoe, the heel end of the attached sole of which has been trimmed to the form shown in Fig. 4 for the reception of an interlocking heel; j

Figs. 6 and 7 are detail views, partly insection and partly broken away, showing the heel ends of the attached soles of shoes being reduced to the forms illustrated in Figs. 3 and l, respectively;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the sole-sup porting plate illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the heel-seat portion of a shoe the attached sole of which has been prefitted by the machine disclosed in United trated in Fig. 9 after the heel end of its sole has been reduced by the machine of Fig. 10;

and

Fig. 12 is a detail view showing the sole-engaging portion of one of the shoe-positioning gages of the machine of Fig. 10.

The illustrated machine will be described with reference to reducing the heel end M (Fig. 4) l6 (Fig. 3) of an attached outsole I8, 20, respectively;

of a compo shoe 22 and the heel end l9 (Fig. 5)

of the attached sole 2! of a McKay shoe 23 for the reception of an interlocking heel24 (Fig. 2). As described in detail inthe above-mentioned United States Letters Patent No. 2,121,172 the interlocking heel 24 has at the upper end of its breast a forwardly projecting lip- 26 of less width than the upper end of the breast 28 of the heel, and a channel 30 which underlies the lip and extends from one side of the attaching face 32 of the heel to the other. In the finished shoe to which the heel 24 is attached the lip 26 of the heel is interposed between the outsole I 8' (Fig. 4) 20 (Fig. 3) and the bottom of the shoe 22 and the rear end of the reduced sole fits in the channel 30 (Fig. 2) of the heel.

Various methods of reducing the attached soleso that its rear end fits in the channel 30 of the heel 24 positioned upon "the shoe have been proposed. In accordance with one method the attached sole 20 of the shoe is trimmed from one side to the other by a straight cut, as illustrated in Fig. 3, forming a rear face 34 s aced a distance 36 from the heel-breast line of the sole, said distance being slightly less than the depth of the channel 30 formed in the breast of the heel.

Such practice has been found to be satisfactory when the margins of the sole are previously beveled to a considerable extent. since the beveled lateral margins of the channel entering portion 40 of the trimmed sole 2!] can then be. quickly and effectively inserted, without crowding, into the end portions of the channel 30. 1

When the margins of the sole have not-been beveled to a feather edge it is sometimes the practice to form a tab or. channel-entering portion 42 (Fig. 4) upon th attachedsole N3. the tab having a rear face 44 and beveled lateral margins 46 extending a proximately to the ends of the heel-breast line 38 of the sole.

The heel end of the attached sole 2!! may be effectively trimmed to the form illustrated in Fi 3 by a knife 43 (Fig. 6) which has astral'gbt cutting edge 5!! and is movable in a vertical path against the upper'face 52 ofa horizontally ar-- ranged sole-supporting plate '54 uponswhich the heel end of the attached sole of the shoe is positioned. The tab 42 is formed by a knife 56 which is movable in a vertical path against the 'upper face 52 of the plate 54 and has straight cuttingv edges 58 and 60 which are offset lengthwise and widthwise from each other and are joined by beveling edges 62.

The sole-supporting plate 54 is positione'd and secured in guideways 64 (Fig. 1) of the main frame 66 of the machine through the provision of a pin' 68 which fitsin'a recess (not shown) of the main frame and has a tapered end (not shown) fitting in a tapered recess (not shown) in the side of the plate. The pin til is normally urged to the right, as viewed in Fig. 1, by a spring -70, the forward and rear ends of which are secured to the pin 63 and. to a stud 72 secured to the main frame 66. Since three different knives 56 having cutting edges 58 of different lengths are provided to accommodate a run of shoes it will be appreciated that each knife has to accommodate several different sizes of shoes of the run, the soles of the shoes being of different widths With such an arrangement the beveled margins 46 of the tab 42 formed by the cutting edges 62 of the knife 52 extend to the sides of the sole only in the case of the smallest sole to be operated upon by that particular knife. When the sole of a shoe larger than said smallest sole is operated upon by said knife, narrow shoulders 'l iag ainst which the upper breast corners of the heel abut are formed on the sole, the width of the shoulder varying in accordance with the width of the sole. shoulders 14 of the finished shoe shall not droop away from the shoe upper it is desirable that the next larger knife 58 be used when the width of the shoulders becomes substantial.

In the manufacture of McKay and lockstitch shoes(Fig. 5) in which the sole is attached to the shoe by stitches T6, the operator, after reducing the heel end of the sole to the form shown in Fig.4 and preparatory to attaching the heel to the shoe, forces the lip 25 of the heel 24 forward into a somewhat restricted pocket 58 formed between the shoe bottom and the rear end of the attached sole of the shoe until the heel is positioned upon the shoe. It has been found that in forcing the lip 25 of the heel 24 into the pocket 18 said lip is sometimes broken. Accordingly it is common practice for the operator to thrust a screw driver,v for example, between the shoe bottom and the rear portion of the attached sole between the lines of stitches Hi to open up the pocket so that it will more readily receive the lip and'also to insure that there no undriven tacks extending across the opening. which tacks would prevent the lip from bein moved forward to its proper position in thepocket.

Preparatory to reducing the heel end of the attached sole of the shoe. the shoe is located in the machine by centralizing and back gages 20 and 82, respectively. (Fig. 1) identical with corresponding gages of the machine disclosed in United StatesLetters Patent No. 2.170.842. granted August 29, 1939 on an application filed in the name of William D. Thomas. The back gage 82 is forced rearward'by the shoe against a sto (not shown) a which is set by an interlocking heel measured in a heel case (not shown) the arrangement being such that the shoe is so positioned with relation to the oath of movement of the knife 48 or 56 that the face 34 or 44 formed on the sole shall en age. or practically engage. the bottom of the channel 3B of the heel positionedupon the shoe. Since the mechanism for locating'the back gage 22 in different opera- In order to insure that the tive positions in accordance with. the. interlocking quently splits the adhesive bond securing the lateral margins of the shank portion ofthe sole to the shoe bottom. Accordingly it is a common practice in the manufacture of compo shoes to hesively securing the sole to the shoe. The fibre piece is removed from the shoe after the sole has been attached to the shoe, and leaves a preformed pocket 84 (Figs. 3 and 4) for the reception of the lip 26 of the heel 24 to be attached to the shoe. It will be noted that when the above-mentioned fibre piece is used in preforming the lip-receive ing pocket 84 the rear end of the attached sole of the shoe is crowned transversely to a considerable extent and is spaced a slight distance from opposing portions of. the shoebottom.

There is also in use a sole-attaching machine which is disclosed in an application for United States Letters Patent Serial No. 282,985, filed July 6, 1939, in the name of Sidney J. Finn, and is provided with a tongue constructed and arranged to fit between the shoe bottom and the rear end portion of the sole. being attached by cement to the shoe, the tongue serving to. providethe preformed pocket 84. I

In order effectively to support the crowned rear end of the trimmed sole of the shoe against the cutting action of the knife 48 or 56, the plate'has associated with it, and preferably secured to or integral with its forward end, a forwardly projecting tongue 86., The illustrated tongue 86 is its rear central part 88 (Fig. 8) which is located a short distance rearward of. the front edge 90 of the plate and may be referred to as a rearward extension of the tongue. It will be noted that the tongue tapers in thickness from said part 88 toward its sides and its forward end. The rear end 92 of the tongue 86 is disposed at right angles to the fiat upper face 52 of theplate 54 and may be described as a shoulder 92 past which the cutting edge 59 of the knife 48 or the cutting edge 58 of the knife 56 moves. The upper edge 94 of the shoulder 92, which may be described as bowed away from the flat face 52 of the plate 54, forms one element of a shearing couple, the

knife 49 0r56 forming the other element.

Thesize of the lip 26 of the interlocking heel .ldivaries in accordance with the width of the considerable pressure into the pocket formed be-j tween the shoe bottom and the rear end of the attached sole, rearward movement of the shoe, which is centralized by the gage 80, being limited when the back gage 82 engages the above-menticned stop (not shown) of the machine. Accordingly the tongue 86 serves to open up the pocket I8, which is not preformed asis the pocket 84, for receiving the lip .26 of the heel 24 which is In trimming the heel ends of soles later to be attached to the-shoe. During the heel-seat fitting operation the tongue 86occupies the same. position which the lip 26 occupies in the finished shoe. By opening up the pocket I8 during the heel-seat fitting operation the operator can later quickly and easily force the lip 26 of the heel into the pocket without the danger of breaking the lip.

In operating upon compo work, in which the pocket 84 is usually preformed to the proper shape, as above described, only a slightamount of rearward pressure of the shoe against the tongue 86 is necessary in positioning th e shoe upon the plate. It is desirable that the forward portion of the plate shall be thin enough to be interposed between the bottom of a compo shoe and the heel end of a sole attachedto the shoe without any tendency to disturb the cement bond ahead of the heel-breast line. By trimming the heel end of the sole progressively from its central portion toward its lateral edges by a shearing ac- I will be appreciated that the knife 48 or 56 chops down against the flat upper face 52 of the plate 54 in trimming the lateral margins of the sole. The downwardpressure against the sole in make ing such cuts, however, is not very great since the lateral margins of the sole areusually skived to a considerable extent andare therefore quite thin. Moreover, the lateral margins of the plate are efiectively supported by adjacent thick portions 95 of the plate and may be made thin and yet stand up under the downward thrust of the knife. Accordingly it is possibleto use athin plate having little if any tendency to break the adhesive bond ahead of the heel-breast line when said plate is provided with the above-described tongue. It will also be noted that were the plate 54 not provided with the sole-supmrtingtongue 86 the downward flattening-out pressure .of the knife 48 or 56 against the. bowed-up rear endior" the attached sole of a compo shoe would tend to loosen the cement bond attaching the rear lateral margins of the shank portion of the sole of the shoe ,to the shoe bottom. I

The knife 48 0r.56 is secured to a vertically reciprocable slide 96 (Fig. 1) through the provision of .a block 98 which is clamped against the shank portion of the knife by a screw I 69 threaded into the slide. To insure against vertical displacement ofthe knife 4-8 or 59 with relation to the slide 96 during the downward cutting stroke of the knife, a screw I92 which is threaded into the shank portion of the knife is normally in engagement with aiiange I 66 of the slide. The screw I02 is held in its adjusted position in the shank portion of the knife by a lock nut I95.

When the machine is idle the slide. 96 is held in a raised position against a stop I69, secured I to the main frame, by a spring H9. Pinned to arod IIZ pivoted upon a bifurcated portion of the slide 96 is a block I I4 which is constantly urged rearward by aspring II5 to its vertical operative position below an eccentric I I6 secured to a constantly rotating shaft H8. When the machine is idle, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the block. H4 is held in its forward inoperative position by a sleeve I29 which is pinnedto the rod H2 and has a shoulder I22 in engagement with an opposed shoulder I24 of a latch I26. .Rearward swinging movement of the block I'I I 'under the" action of the spring H5 is limited by the engagement of a pin I28, which is secured to the sleeve I20, with the slide 86.

The latch I26 is pivoted upon a pin I30 and is normally urged rearward about the pin by a spring I32 the forward end of whichis connected to a stud I34 secured to the latch andthe rear end of which is connected to a stud I36 secured to a horizontal arm I38 pivoted to the upper end of a bell-crank trip lever I40 mounted upon a bearing pin I 42 supported by the main frame.

The lower end of the latch I26 is bifurcated to trip lever I40 causing the arm I88 to swing the latch I26 forward about the pin I and the shoulder I24 of the latch to slide off the shoulder I22 of the sleeve I20. The spring H5 is then rendered effective to swing theblock H4 rearward so that its upper face I53 is positioned directly beneath the eccentric. II6. As'the ec-, centric I I6 rotates it depresses the block I I4 and the slide I96 causing the knife 48 or 56 to cooperate with the plate 54 and the tongue 86in trimming the rear end of the attached sole of the shoe for the reception of the interlocking heel 24.

It will be noted that when the sleeve I20 is depressed it swings the forward end of the arm I38 downward about its pivotal connection with the trip lever I40 thereby causing the shoulder I44 of the arm I38 to slide off the rear face of the latch I26 and causing the latch to override the upper face of the arm. As the slide 96 is raised after the sole has been trimmed the shoulder I22 of the sleeve I20 engages the shoulder I24? of the latch I26 causing the block II4 to swing forward to its inoperative position shown in Fig. 1 against the action of a spring H5. The machine then comes to rest and cannot be started until the'operator raises the bellcrank lever I40 so as to enable the shoulder I44 of the arm I38 again to engage the rear face of the latch I26.

In accordance with another method of procedure I propose to reduce the rear end of the attached sole I54 (Fig. 9) of a shoe I56 by the use of the machine disclosed inthe above-mentioned United States Letters Patent No. 1,850,149 to provide a tab I58 such as illustrated in Fig. 9, andthen to remove material from the rear end of said tab by a slightly modified machine (Fig. 10) thereby providing a reduced tab I60 (Fig. 11) constructedfland arranged to be received in t he channel 30 of the interlocking heel 24 to be attached to the shoe. The machine disclosed in said United' States Letters Patent No.. 1,850,149 is provided with a pair of knives (not shown) which are moved forward to form the beveled faces I62 of the tab I58, and a pair of knives (not shown) which are moved inward from opposite sides of the sole to form heel-breast, receiving shoulders I64. Since the machine .for forming the tab I58 is disclosed in detail in said United States Letters Patent No. 1,850,149 it will be unnecessary further, to. describe .thesame herein.

The shaft II8 to which the 'eccenf Since the major portion of the machin'efor reducing the tab I58 (Fig. 9) to the form illustrated in Fig. 11Lis identical with corresponding portions ofjthe machine of Fig. 1, the parts of the machine illustrated in Fig. 10 which are substantially'i'dentical with corresponding parts of the machine illustrated in Fig. l have been given,-- respectively, the same numerals, each with an exponent a.

Instead of positioning the shoe in the machine by the use of the centralizing and back gages 80 and 82respectively (Fig. 1), the modified ma-' chine (Fig. 10) is provided with a pairv of workpositioning gages I66 which are movable equal distances toward and away from each other along undercut guideways I68 in the main frame 66 The left and right gages I66, as viewed in Fig. 10, are provided with recesses I61 (one shown) for receiving the lower and upper ends respec-' tively of levers I10 which are secured to the front ends of pins I12 pivotally mounted in bearings (not shown) supported by flanges of the main frame. 'Downwardly extending levers I16, I18 are secured to the rear ends of the respective pins I12, the levers being pivotally connect ed to the opposite ends of a link I60 by pins I82 and I84, respectively. The gages I66 are con-- stantly urged toward each otherby a spring'IBB the right end (not shown) of which is secured to themain frame and the left end of which is secured to a plate I88 pivoted uponzthe pin I02.

In order to open up the gages- !56 to position the" shoe in the machine a lever I90 is secured to the right pin I12 and is'pivoted at its right-hand end to a, treadle rod I92. I

In order to position the pretrimmed sole I54" of the shoe I56 illustrated in Fig. 9 in the ma chine prep-aratoryto reducing the tab I58 to form dle I92 is then released causing the end faces I04 of the gages I66 to be forced against the respective beveledfaces I62 of the tab I50, thereby centralizing the tab of the attached sole of the shoe upon the plate 52*.

I 96 of the gages engage the respective heel-breast receiving shoulders I64 of the sole. With the sole thuspositi'oned the operator depresses the,

trip lever I40 of the machine causing the knife 48 toreduce the tab I53 to the form shown in Fig. 11. The distance between the front faces I96 of the gages I66 and the path of vertical:

movement of theknife is such that the end face I98 of the reduced tab I60 substantially engages the bottom of the channel 30 of the interlocking heel 24 when the same has been positioned upon the shoe with its upper breast corners in engagement with the heel-breast receiving shoulders I64.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a heel-seat fitting machine, a plate to be interposed between the bottom of a shoe which is to receive an interlocking heel and the heel end of an attached sole of the shoe, and an associated tongue which projects forwardly of the'platelandiis of: less width thantheasole" of The operator then moves the shoe-rearwardly until the front faces which is constructed and arranged tobe posi- "the shoe, said tongue being arranged to be interposed between theshoe bottom andfltlie'rear Inedian part of the shank portion of the attached sole supported by and positioned upon the plate and between adhesive bonds or lines of stitches securing therespective', rear lateral margins oftlie shank portion of the sole to the shoe bottom.

arranged to be interposedbetween the bottom of the shoe and the shank portion of theat- ,tached sole, said tongue having a face which is positioned adjacent to the plate, and a knife movable in a predetermined path past said face of thetongueand against the plate to reduce the heel end of the sole for reception in a channel formed in the breast ofthe heel. i

i 3. A heel-seat fitting machinec'omp'rising a,

plate having a flat upper face over whichfmay be positioned the heel end of an attached sole of a shoe to which an interlocking heel is" to be attached, an associated tongue projecting forwardly of the plate andjconstjructedand arranged to'beinterposed hetweenthe bottom of the shoe and the shank portion of the attachedsole, said tongue having a lower face which is substantially, continuous with the lower face of the plate and a rear face which is positioned above and adjacent to the upper face of the plate, and a knife movable ina predetermined path past the rear face of the tongue and against the upper face of the plate to reduce the heel end of the sole for reception in a channel formed in the breast of the heel.

4. A heel-seat fitting lmachine comprising a platehaving afiat upper face and a thin for:

wardj portion, means for positioning the heel ;end of an attached sole of a shoe to which'an interlocking heel is to berattachedgover said face ofthe plate, a tongue which is. associated with the plate and which projects forwardly and rearwarolly of said front portion of the plate and has at its rear end an edge extending above the upper a shoe to which an interlockingheel is to be,

attached, said means comprising a tonguewhich is of considerably less width than the sole of the shoe and is arrangedto open, up and to be received within apocket formed between the bottom of the shoe and the rear median part ofthe shank portion of the attached sole and between adhesive bonds or lines of stitches securing the rear lateral margins of the shank 7 portion of the sole to the shoe bottom, and a tioned in a pocket formed between the bottom of "the shoe onthe one hand and theshank rand heel end portions of" the attached sole on the other hand, said tongue having a rear face ,which intersects the solerengaging face of the tongue and forms" asharp edge therewith, and aknife movable ina predetermined pathpast said edge for the tongue to tnrn the median por Lion 01 the sole widthwise by a: shearing cut a d then into, engagement with other portions of said means to trim the lateral margins of the sole was cuts. i A heel-seat fitting machine comprising ininedpath, mechanism for positioning the heel endofi tne sole uponlsaid means withrelation to: thepath of movement of the knife, said means comprising a forwardly pro ecting tongue which 1 constructed andarranged to lie between the I bottom of the shoe on the one hand and the shank and heel-end portions of the sole on the able-in a predetermined path, means for supporting'banattached sole :of ashoe which is to receive aninterlocking heel against the action oi said knife, said means comprising a thin plate constructed and arranged to be positioned between the bottom of the shoe and portions of the sole extending rearward of its heel-breast line, and a relativelythick tongue formed integral with the plateand constructed and arranged to be DOSE/101186, in a pooKet formed between the shoe bottom'andmedian portions of the sole which are located immediately rearward and forward of the heel-breast line of the sole.

9. A neel seat fitting machine comprising a knife for trimming the rear end or an attached sole of a shoe for the reception of an interlocks ing heel, and means for supporting the "sole against the action of said knife, said means comprising a thin plate having a flat upper face and an associated tongue Whichis considerably narrower than said plate and which extends above,

Said face and also extends forward and rearward of the front endof the plate;

10; A heel-seat fitting machine for trimming an attached sole of ashoefor the reception of an interlocking heel having, in combination, a plate constructed and arranged to be received between the bottom of the shoe and the tab formed at the rear end of, the sole .of the shoe, a tongue which is associated with the plate and is constructedland arranged to be interposed between the shoe bottom and the shank portion of the attached sole, a pair of gagesfor positioning the tab widthwise and lengthwise upon the plate, and a knife for reducing the positioned tab upon the plate for reception in a channel formed in the breast of the heel, said gages being movable toward and. away from each other and being constructed and arranged to engage a corresole and a lateral margin of the tab. t

11. A heel-seat fitting machine comprising a thinplate having a flat face, a relatively thick tongue which is formed integral with the plate sponding heel-breast receiving "shoulder on the 1V6 i l and which projectsforwardly of the plate and has its rear portion extending above and positioned between the forward lateral portions .of

:said face, and a'knife movable ina predetermined .path past the rear end of thetongue and against said flat face of the plate to.sever the rear end of. the attached sole of a shoe supported by the plate and the tongue for reception in a channel formed in the breast of an interlocking heel to be. attached to the shoe.

' 12. A heel-seat fitting machine comprising a plate having a flat upper face, means for positioning the heel end of an attached sole of a shoe to which an interlockingheel is to be attached with relation to said plate, an associated v tongue projecting forwardly of the plate and con-' structedand arranged to be interposed between the bottom of the shoe and the shank portion of the attached sole, said tongue having a fiat lower face which is substantially continuous with the lower face of the plate and having an upper face which is beveled WidthWiSe and lengthwise from its rear central portion, saidtongue also having a rear face which is disposed at approximately an interlockingzheel and the heel end of the at I tached sole, ofthe shoe, means for positioning the shoe relatively to said cutting bed, a knife -having acutting edge lying approximately in a plane, said utting bed comprising a thin plate r havin aflat upper face, a tongue which is associated, with the plate and projects forwardly of said plate, said tongue being constructed and arranged jtolliebetween the shoe bottom and the shank portion of the sole when :the shoe is positionedwith relation to the cuttingflbed, a transverselyflcrowned extension ofthe tongue projecting above said face of the'plateandpositioned between thefrontlateral portionsof said face,

said extension having a rear face terminating in an edge and, means for moving the cutting edge of the knife past the edge of said extension and then against said flat face of the plate to reduce the rear end of the sole for reception in a pchannel formed in the breast of said'heel.

14. In a heel-seat fitting machine, a cutting bed comprising a thin plate having a fiat faceand a relatively thick transversely crowned portion which extends above said face and is arranged between the forward lateral portions of the plate,

said crowend portion having a rear face extending transversely of the plate and disposed at approximately'right angles to said face of the plate, a

knife movable in a predetermined path past the rear face of said crowned portion and against the flatface of the plate, and a tongue formed integral with and projecting forwardly ofthe plate.

GEORGE HAZEL'ICN. 

